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Seventh-grader knows his way around the globe
By SHAIYLA HAKEEM
Map locations, historical landmarks, physical and economical geography facts whizzed through the head of seventh-grader Michael Palegano as he competed for nationals.
Boardman Glenwood Middle School’s Palegano placed sixth at the Ohio Geographic Bee April 9 at Ohio State University in Mansfield. He competed against 99 of the top geographical gurus in the state. Palegano was the only student from Boardman to advance to the state competition.
His journey to the state event began two years ago when he was just in fifth grade. A preliminary round consisted of students answering 80 geography questions on random topics. He placed among the top 10 students in his school.
From there, the top 10 students are tested on an additional 100 questions to determine who will advance to the state competition. Palegano did not make it to state that year. But since that day, he has been studying for the annual geographical bee at school and at home.
“My dad pushed me because he really wanted me to win,” he said.
Palegano’s social studies teacher Vince Carnevale helped him prepare for the state competition. They studied together three days a week for more than an hour each day. The two even continued to study through April’s spring break.
In addition to studying with Carnevale, Palegano played geography computer games, reviewed maps, visited Google earth and studied countries and states from his globeat home. Palegano said he had been preparing for the bee for more than 10 months.
For the state competition, students were placed, 20 at a time, in an enclosed room and drilled through eight rounds of oral questioning. The questions were on various topics ranging from bodies of water to historical homes. Palegano mastered questions through 16 consecutive rounds before delivering an incorrect answer.
“He’s a really smart kid and some of those questions were really tough,” said Carnevale.
The question that stumped Palegano was: What political division of the United Kingdom is the city of Londonderry located on the River Foyle?
Though Palegano didn’t win the event, he is happy with his sixth place position.
“I feel like it’s a big honor, it’s great!” he said.
Since the geography bee is only for grades four through eight, next year will be Palegano’s last shot at becoming the state champion and proceeding to the national competition.
He is currently preparing for next year’s event and says he doesn’t want to settle for anything less than first place.
“I’m working hard. I really, really want to win state,” Palegano said. “It would be such an honor.”